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Hi, my cockatiels have recently started mating and nesting. They are both young, Pesses the female took a while to warm up to Rusty. They fuss a little now and then but a couple of days ago they were chasing eachother around the cage and Rusty now has a hole in his beak. Pesses seems to have been mad at the lack of honey treats in the cage because she got nicer when i put one in. Is this normal, anything i can do?
Do you mean an actual HOLE in
Do you mean an actual HOLE in the beak? Do you have a photo of that? Beaks are pretty hard. Were there any other injuries? If one of the birds causes injury in the other, they need to be separated. Sibylle
Yes it is a hole, i tried to
Yes it is a hole, i did
Did you see any other signs
Did you see any other signs of injury on him? I don't even know how a bird could actually BITE a hole into another bird's beak. I wonder if this injury could have occurred by another accident ... Does he appear to be comfortable / in pain? This hole could and potentially should be filled/ closed up. Sibylle
If the hole is not causing
If the hole is not causing any discomfort and is only small, no action may need to be taken; but in some instances beak repair is necessary. This webpage has some information on this: http://beautyofbirds.com/brokenbeaks.html
If there are no other injuries on your pet, I am still questioning whether your other pet caused the damage to the beak. A photo would be nice for sure. If you can't upload here, you may try e-mailing it to sf@avianweb.com ... Sibylle
I uploaded the image that you
I uploaded the image that you e-mailed me. The hole appears to be superficial from wha I can see and should grow out over time; this being said, I am still confused about the damage. I have never seen a cockatiel being able to poke a hole into another bird's beak. I wonder if the beak tissue is healthy. Is the beak generally smooth and strong: can he break seeds okay? I also ask myself if the beak could have been damaged by something hard metallic pointy - hardware of a toy maybe?